Chapter 268: Are You Threatening Me?
Translator: ryuxenji, DRZ Editor: mjn0898, H2dH2mr
Li Lanfeng's control over his emotions was undoubtedly excellent — in the blink of an eye he had regained his composure. He continued to observe coldly, keeping quiet, but mentally made a note to try and find out more about the other, to aid his future plans.
Ling Lan swept her gaze contemplatively over the four youths, and her gaze finally landed on Li Shiyu. Xie Yi had mentioned very clearly that this dux was the one who had pushed this decision through, so she said to him, "Are you the one who requested to transfer my man into the Military Medical Research Centre?"
In spite of his displeasure, Li Shiyu's good upbringing still made him nod in response, indicating that Ling Lan was right.
At that, Ling Lan raised an eyebrow and said, "I recall that, a request like that still requires the agreement of the patient being treated." After finding out about the situation, Little Four had instantly looked up all the related regulations on transferral of treatment cases. Thus, Ling Lan was now extremely clear on all the rules and procedures associated with the process — there were plenty of loopholes for her to play with ...
Li Shiyu's expression darkened, but he still replied, "I'm the dux of the military medical research specialization. As long as any patient is within the treatment centre, I have the right to designate them as my patient without requiring the other's approval." That said, he did not forget to throw a fierce glare in Li Yingjie's direction ...
The moment Li Shiyu said this, the senior year students all nodded in agreement, while the 1st year freshmen stared at one another, uncertain whether the military academy really had this rule.
Li Yingjie was rather bewildered by Li Shiyu's glare — when and how had he offended his second elder cousin brother now? Initially already irritated, he became even more disgruntled. His rage rose higher, but he still held back, only expressing it by returning an equally scathing glare to indicate his displeasure.
Although every time Li Yingjie encountered Li Shiyu, they were like primed firecrackers, ready to explode at the slightest provocation, over these many years, Li Yingjie actually knew that his cousin brother would never hurt him. Otherwise, having the full upper hand over him all these many years, Li Shiyu would not have just mocked and taunted and snarked at him with words. From the time they were little till now, there had been plenty of chances for Li Shiyu to be ruthless and do away with him completely ...
This was also why Li Yingjie had not rebutted his cousin's words, merely glaring back — he did not want to put Li Shiyu on the spot 1 .
"Furthermore, Li Yingjie is my younger cousin. As his elder cousin, giving a hand to treat him is an obligation. I can ensure that he fully recovers in almost half the time." Of course, this was based on the prerequisite that Li Yingjie had to endure through the intense agony of his body being modified and improved by the medical agents ... Li Yingjie would probably remember the experience for the rest of his life. A subtle smile appeared on Li Shiyu's lips.
These words of Li Shiyu moved all of the first year students; even those members who had still been wary of Li Shiyu cast away their doubts at this time. Li Yingjie himself was convinced, but just as he was about to say he was willing, an ice-cold gaze swept over to look at him, instantly freezing him in place, along with those words which were already at the tip of his tongue.
How terrifying! Compared to Boss Lan's cold gaze, his elder cousin's glares were really all too harmless. Li Yingjie swallowed the acceptance he had been about to utter, hurriedly ducking his head and pretending that he did not know anything.
Li Yingjie resolutely chose Boss Lan's side. Offending his elder cousin would just cause him to be cut by the other's venomous tongue a few times, or at most resulting in some minor scrapes, but if he made Boss Lan unhappy ... Li Yingjie shuddered internally. He still remembered not too long ago in the combat hall, he had seen Qi Long in a terrible state, crawling and staggering out with the last of his strength from a combat room. Qi Long's opponent that day had been Boss Lan ...
Out of curiosity over Qi Long's sorry state, Li Yingjie had asked Xie Yi, who was on friendly terms with everyone in the regiment, about it. Xie Yi had told him then that Qi Long had accidentally offended Boss Lan, so Boss Lan had decided to spar with Qi Long for a week 2 ...
And sure enough, for that entire week, Qi Long had crawled out so pitifully from the combat room every single day. Li Yingjie absolutely did not want to become the second Qi Long, so he was determined to follow Boss Lan's lead.
Obtaining Li Yingjie's cooperation, Ling Lan retracted her gaze in satisfacton. She, who had originally had a relatively so-so impression of Li Shiyu, was now looking at Li Shiyu with sparkling eyes, just like a starving fox setting its eyes on a piece of premium-grade marbled meat ... um, no, an extremely good collaboration partner.
With regards to the three people who had been heavily injured in the arena fights, Ling Lan was extremely distressed by it. This was because she knew very well that missing too many of the physical conditioning classes would affect their final physical conditioning results. If the three of them could not pass the assessment in the end due to their injuries here, even if this allowed the New Cadet Regiment to establish their foothold within the military academy, Ling Lan felt that it was rather not worth it.
This was also why she had rushed over here to the treatment centre after accepting a simple round of congratulations from the members of the New Cadet Regiment. She wanted to know the conditions of the three and their final recovery prognoses 3 . Along the way, having discovered the treatment estimations, Little Four had told her the time needed for the three boys to recover. Luo Lang would require one month, Li Yingjie two and a half months, while Qi Long would need a whole three months ... undoubtedly, the treatment time for all three of them were extremely long. This would be very disadvantageous to them in the following physical conditioning courses.
Although Ling Lan had tried asking Little Four to find a solution, Little Four's answer was that there was no way. This made Ling Lan extremely unhappy. Therefore, the moment she had entered the treatment centre to find some seniors facing off against Li Yingjie and the others, Ling Lan's mood had become even worse, causing the cold air around her to become even colder by several degrees ...
But her luck was unexpectedly great! Here she was worrying about her three followers' conditions, when someone had voluntarily walked up to her front door to offer a solution. Even in her overwhelming joy, Ling Lan had begun to work the little abacus inside her mind 4 , calculating how best to use the other to obtain the best benefits for her followers.
Ling Lan held this strange stare on Li Shiyu for a few seconds — under this creepy gaze, the initially calm and composed Li Shiyu actually found cold sweat breaking out along his back, as if he had stepped into some sort of trap ...
The corner of Ling Lan's lips quirked up, and she suddenly opened her mouth to say, "Unfortunately, he already has a clan!" Subsequently, Ling Lan, who had initially been five paces away, was suddenly right by Li Shiyu. She pressed down on Li Shiyu's shoulder with one hand and leaned in close to say softly by his ear, "Regarding the procedures and regulations on transferral of treatment, I know no less than you ..."
Li Shiyu's expression changed, but before he could say anything, Ling Lan was already back in her original position, just as if she had never moved at all. This scene caused everyone in the treatment centre to be stupefied, also causing the eyes of Li Lanfeng, who had been standing next to Li Shiyu, to narrow.
"Li Yingjie, are you willing to go with me?" Li Shiyu swiftly regained his composure, and turned his head to ask Li Yingjie. Now the key was Li Yingjie's answer. If Li Yingjie agrees, there would be no problem.
Li Yingjie had long made up his mind. Hearing Li Shiyu's question, he responded without even having to think, "I'll listen to whatever Boss Lan decides."
"Have you forgotten that you are a Li family descendant?!" Li Yingjie's reply made Li Shiyu livid once more. When had this arrogant and annoying brat become so submissive?
"No, he is still a descendant of your Li family, but he is also one of my clan members," Ling Lan interrupted to say, "You know very well that I have the right to decide everything for him."
"You ..." Li Shiyu was instantly left at a loss for words, because Ling Lan was right. Once a student joined a clan, that student would no longer be solely representing himself. Instead, he now represented the clan as well, which also meant that there were some things that Li Yingjie could no longer decide for himself.
Li Lanfeng quickly stepped in to defuse the awkward scene. "Actually, everyone here is just trying to do the best for Young Master Yingjie. Regiment Commander Ling, Young Master Shiyu is the dux of the military medical research specialization. Speaking reasonably, only Young Master Shiyu has the right to use the best medicinal agents to treat Young Master Yingjie. Thus, letting Young Master Shiyu take charge of treatment, Young Master Yingjie has everything to gain and nothing to lose."
Li Lanfeng did not wish for the two sides to fall out and become adversaries. If possible, he still wanted to collaborate with Ling Lan. Moreover, he too was worried about Li Yingjie's injuries, and he also really did not want to hurt Li Shiyu's compassionate heart filled with brotherly love ...
"I know. However, I still have two clan members who are very gravely injured. I wonder if Dux Li would be willing to lend a hand?" Ling Lan did not want to draw things out with the other either, and so directly put forward her request.
"You think ultra-effective medical agents are that easy to obtain?" Li Shiyu's expression was very dark. "If Li Yingjie were not my younger cousin, I would never have offered."
"What a good big brother!" Ling Lan lifted an eyebrow and glanced at Li Shiyu, a half-smile on her face, as if she had seen through Li Shiyu's inner thoughts. This made Li Shiyu feel somewhat flustered instantly, somewhat unsure whether he had misconstrued what the other intended ...
"What if I want you to treat all three of them no matter what?"
"Are you threatening me?" Li Shiyu's eyes narrowed, a faint air of danger beginning to emanate from his body.
The military medical students belonged to the neutral factions within the military academy; no individual or faction dared to offend them. After all, no one could tell whether they would ever be injured and fall into the other's hands. No one would play a fool with their life.
"If you want to think so, you can!" responded Ling Lan evenly, "This would depend on how much you, as a good elder brother, are willing to do for your younger brother."
Li Shiyu clenched his teeth so hard he almost shattered them. Who could have known that the boss Li Yingjie had acknowledged would be so shameless, actually using Li Yingjie as a bargaining chip to threaten him? He said resentfully to Li Yingjie, "This is the boss you want to follow? One who, for the sake of others, would be willing to sacrifice you?"
Li Yingjie's complexion shifted slightly, but very quickly returned to normal. He said, "They are my brothers too. For brothers, a little sacrifice is worth it. Besides, it's not like I can't be healed. It'll just take a little longer, just as if you had never appeared ..." The connotation of these words was that he would just pretend that Li Shiyu had never showed up, that he was willing to either share the blessing or suffer together with his brothers.
These words moved the people of the New Cadet Regiment. Han Jijyun, Lin Zhong-qing, Xie Yi, and the others all began to look at Li Yingjie with new eyes.
Frankly, Li Yingjie's reputation within the New Cadet Regiment had never been very good. After all, his character was already deeply rooted — his arrogant tone and haughty manner were rather irritating. But now, they were seeing Li Yingjie in a new light. Apparently, that annoying and arrogant punk was not a selfish person — he was in fact willing to sacrifice himself for his brothers. All this had just been hidden below that pompous appearance, unknown by others.
Hearing Li Yingjie's reply, Li Shiyu was so angry that he almost blurted out 5 : You can bloody go live and die as you like! I don't want to treat you anymore!